Patent Enforcement in Vietnam: Legal and Institutional Reforms to Protect Patent Owners

I. Context and Importance

- Patents are high-value intellectual property assets that drive innovation and economic growth.
- Infringement of patents remains a challenge in Vietnam, particularly in pharmaceuticals, electronics, mechanical engineering, and food processing.
- Domestic inventors and SMEs often face significant difficulties in protecting their patent rights due to legal and enforcement limitations.

II. Key Challenges in Patent Enforcement

(i) Legal framework remains vague and outdated

- Despite amendments in 2022, the IP Law still lacks detailed criteria for identifying patent infringement in complex technical cases.
- No clear provision on the burden of proof in infringement lawsuits, disadvantaging the right holder.
- No unified guideline on evaluating technical equivalence between infringing products and patented inventions.

(ii) Weak civil enforcement mechanisms

- Few civil lawsuits filed due to lengthy procedures, difficulties in technical assessment, and limited access to evidence.
- Lack of judges and experts with sufficient technical knowledge.
- Infringement through internal processes is particularly hard to detect or prove.

(iii) Ineffective administrative and criminal enforcement

- Enforcement officials often lack technical expertise to identify patent violations.
- No criminal cases have been prosecuted for patent infringement, despite legal provisions allowing it.

(iv) Lack of border protection mechanisms

- Customs lacks clear authority and technical capacity to block imported goods that infringe patents.

III. Legal Reform Proposals

(i) Further amendment of the IP Law with technical depth

- Clearly define patent infringement criteria and rules on burden of proof.
- Introduce the Doctrine of Equivalents into law and provide guidelines for its application.

(ii) Issue specialized legal guidance

- Ministries and courts should issue guidelines on:
  • Patent assessment;
  • Damage valuation;
  • Presumptions of infringement for internal processes.

(iii) Introduce provisional protection mechanisms

- Enable preliminary injunctions and urgent measures for time-sensitive infringement cases.

IV. Institutional and Practical Improvements

(i) Strengthen courts and expert systems

- Establish specialized IP courts at trial and appeal levels.
- Provide technical training for judges, prosecutors, and patent examiners.

(ii) Enhance patent assessment infrastructure

- Support private assessment centers and develop a standardized national patent database.

(iii) Support for SMEs and local inventors

- Establish legal support centers at local IP offices or business associations.
- Launch a national program to protect high-potential patents.

(iv) Apply digital technology in monitoring and enforcement

- Use AI and Big Data to monitor markets and detect infringements.
- Develop early warning systems for patent copying and technical imitation.

V. Conclusion

Reforming the legal framework and strengthening enforcement mechanisms are essential to protect patent rights, foster innovation, and build a knowledge-based economy in Vietnam. The government must take comprehensive and deep-rooted actions to make patents a pillar of sustainable national development and global integration.